Global ETF News Older than One Year
Welfare Versus GDP: What Makes People Better Off
March 7, 2018--For years, economists have worked to develop a way of measuring general well-being and comparing it across countries. The main metric has been differences in income or gross domestic product per person. But economists have long known that GDP is an imperfect measure of well-being, counting just the value of goods and services bought and sold in markets.
The challenge is to account for non-market factors such as the value of leisure, health, and home production, such as cleaning, cooking and childcare, as well as the negative byproducts of economic activity, such as pollution and inequality.
Charles Jones and Peter Klenow proposed a new index two years ago (American Economic Review, 2016) that combines data on consumption with three non-market factors-leisure, excessive inequality, and mortality—in an economically consistent way to calculate expected lifetime economic benefits across countries. In our recent working paper, Welfare vs. Income Convergence and Environmental Externalities, we updated and extended this work, attempting to include measures of environmental effects and sustainability. In this blog we look at our results from updating the new index.
view IMF Welfare vs. Income Convergence and Environmental Externalities white paper
Source: IMF
BetaShares-Global Market Outlook: Volatility is back!
March 7, 2018--Global equities pulled back in February, with the MSCI All-Country Index dropping 3.5%, largely due to concerns over rising inflation and bond yields in the US, following a higher than expected US wage gain reported for January.
Market Performance
By region, declines were fairly evenly spread across the US, Europe, Japan and Emerging Markets. By contrast, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index held up reasonably well, delivering a 0.6% gain.
Source: betashares.com.au
IOSCO consults on recommendations to help trading venues manage extreme volatility
March 7, 2018--The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is seeking feedback on its proposed recommendations to assist trading venues and regulatory authorities in the implementation of mechanisms to manage extreme volatility.
Extreme volatility in securities markets can undermine IOSCO's objective of ensuring that markets are fair, efficient and transparent, weaken market integrity and reduce investor confidence. Following recent extreme volatility events, regulatory authorities and trading venues have been reviewing their approaches to managing extreme volatility; volatility control mechanisms seek to minimize market disruption triggered by events such as erroneous orders, by halting or temporarily constraining trading.
Source: IOSCO
LIMEYARD partners with the Vienna Stock Exchange to add real-time index calculation and data dissemination to its proprietary and non-proprietary index offering
March 7, 2018--NEW, INNOVATIVE INDEX PROVIDER FOUNDED BY INDUSTRY EXPERTS
LIMEYARD partners with the Vienna Stock Exchange to add real-time index calculation and data
dissemination to its proprietary and non-proprietary index offering
LIMEYARD is delighted to announce a strategic partnership with the Vienna Stock
Exchange (Wiener Börse AG) aimed at strengthening its index offering globally by providing real-time index
calculation and data dissemination.
LIMEYARD is a new, cutting-edge index provider launched in Zurich with in-depth knowledge of the market's needs. Based on a unique cloud-based infrastructure offering a fast and secure environment, the index provider designs both white-labelled and LIMEYARD-branded indices. Founded by its Managing Partner and led by a team of reputable industry experts, the index provider has offices in New York, Paris, Zurich and now Vienna.
Source: LIMEYARD
McKay Brothers Receives Minority Investment from Jane Street Group
March 6, 2018--McKay Brothers, a market leader in low latency networks, today announces a minority investment from Jane Street Group, LLC that will support the continued growth of McKay's successful private bandwidth and market data businesses.
Jane Street Group joins IMC, Tower Research Capital, Susquehanna International Group and XR Trading as minority investors in McKay. The companies' founders continue to hold the controlling majority of McKay's equity. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Source: McKay Brothers
A new way to measure growth and development: The Inclusive Development Index
March 6, 2018--Recent political developments in many countries suggest that most of their citizens lack confidence in the assumption of the standard growth model that everyone in a society benefits from GDP growth. This column proposes a multidimensional 'Inclusive Development Index', based on a dashboard of indicators in growth and development, inclusion, and intergenerational equity and sustainability.
GDP per capita growth is weakly correlated with performance in many of the new index's indicators, including those pertaining to employment, income and wealth inequality, and carbon intensity.
Global economic growth is making a stronger than expected comeback. It is likely to accelerate to as much as 4% in 2018, from 3.2% in 2016 (IMF 2018).
World Gold Council-Gold-backed ETFs lost 5.1t in February
March 6, 2018--Gold-backed ETFs collectively held 2,393.4t (US$101.4bn) at the end of February after losing 5.1t (US$146mn) during the month.
Regional fund flows
Asian-listed funds added 7.9t (US$317mn, 8.3% AUM)
European funds lost 7.3t (US$240.6mn, 57bp AUM).
North American funds lost 5.1t (US$196mn, 37bp AUM)
Funds in other regions lost 0.7t (US$28mn, 1.6% AUM)
Source: World Gold Council (WGC)
World Economic Forum Convenes New Consortium to Address Fintech Cybersecurity
March 6, 2018--The World Economic Forum today announced the creation of a new consortium to strengthen cybersecurity for financial technology companies (fintechs) and data aggregators. The consortium's founding members include global bank Citigroup, insurance company Zurich Insurance Group, fintech lender Kabbage, information technology company Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and financial infrastructure provider The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
Its aim is to create a framework for the assessment of cybersecurity in financial technology.
The consortium came about after leading cybersecurity experts convened by the World Economic Forum identified the growing threat of cyber-attacks to financial services providers as a key concern for the global financial system. Their assessment and proposed solutions were published today in Innovation-Driven Cyber-Risk to Customer Data in Financial Services, a white paper.
view the Innovation-Driven Cyber-Risk to Customer Data in Financial Services white paper
Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
Polish confirms bid for Tel Aviv stock exchange
March 6, 2018-- Poland's state-run stock exchange GPW (GPW.WA), along with state fund PFR, has submitted a non-binding offer to buy a 71.7-percent stake in Tel Aviv Stock Exchange TASE, GPW said on Tuesday.
Last week, a source close to TASE said that more than ten stock exchange operators have shown an interest in buying a controlling stake.
Source: Reuters
Cryptocurrencies Could Threaten Financial Stability, Says Head of BIS
March 6, 2018--Official from Bank for International Settlements calls on central banks to intervene to stem risks
Central banks must be prepared to intervene to stem risks from digital currencies, as Bitcoin has become a "combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster," central banking official Agustin Carstens said Tuesday.
The warning indicates public authorities are moving toward a crackdown on digital currencies amid concerns they could undermine the broader financial system. view more
Source: Wall Street Journal
